Consequences of Poverty in the UnitedStates

The consequences of poverty are far reaching and multifaceted.Sociologists often try to understand the complex and interrelatedways that poverty adversely affects people’s lives along a numberof dimensions. Reflect on what you have learned about the impact ofpoverty as you watch the following video.

Play

Current Time3:14

/

Duration Time3:14

Loaded: 0%

Progress: 0%

3:14

Fullscreen

00:00

Mute

Captions

Transcript

Video supplied by BBC Motion Gallery.

One problem addressed by the video is a lack of food, clothing,and medical care among the students at Whitney Elementary. With thehelp ofincreased government assistance   , the principalcreated programs to help poor and homeless students get the basicsupplies they needed. In her view, many of these problems have beenworsened by   .

Research shows that children enduring poverty, like those atWhitney Elementary, are more likely to:

Encounter stressful family environments and health problems thatcan hinder academic performance

Excel in school due to higher levels of motivation to escapepoverty

If Charlie grows up to remain poor as an adult, her experiencewould be illustrative of intergenerational poverty. This problemdraws the attention of sociologists because it can lead to anunderclass of people who are:

Persistently poor and disadvantaged along many socialdimensions

Poor for only a short time but require a great deal ofgovernment aid

Another consequence of poverty is a lack of political poweramong the poor. Studies show that they are much less likely to votethan the wealthy, in part because of political alienation that:

Makes them feel powerless and estranged from government

Allows them to trust the free market to solve their economicproblems